Dave said: “A firefighter was injured during an exercise in a compartment fire behaviour unit (CFBT) which is used to recreate a realistic environment for crew to train in.

“This includes setting fires to simulate a house fire and the firefighter was wearing full personal protective equipment and breathing apparatus as he would in a real life scenario. He suffered superficial burns to his arm and shoulder in the incident and was treated in hospital where his injuries were dressed.

“He was later discharged home to recover. We are in contact with him to support his recovery and also to include him in our investigations. We have closed the unit down whilst we work to understand exactly what happened.”

One firefighter said: “The investigation will have to look at the performance of the kit he was wearing. There are suggestions that his mask melted.

“Also he was wearing the new fire kit - so why did it fail to protect him, and ended up with him getting burned. The incident raises serious questions as to how robust the kit is. He has finished up with one side of his body being burned.”

The injured fireman was wearing layered protective clothing plus a flash hood, gloves, and breathing apparatus when the incident happened.

The ‘smoke house’ at Oldham station is made up of several steel containers arranged to represent different rooms in a building.